Aside from my regular office, my friends and family joke that I hold office hours at the Path of Tea, one of my favorite hangouts. Why? The organic tea selection is delectable (from savory to indulgent desert teas like creme caramel), and the array of personalities is always enlightening. There is not a day when I do not meet someone interesting, eccentric, fun that challenge my way of thinking.
Over time, I have developed a nice friendship with the owner, Thia McKann. Recently, we sat down and had a great conversation about tea. I learned more than my share. And I am here again, drinking a delicious cup of Tiger Pu-erh, with notes of mint and vanilla, but smells like cinnamon.
I perceive that there is been an increased interest in people drinking and learning more about tea. Why do you think that is?
Yes. Because some many people are having to have problems with coffee, caffeine and jitteriness heightened due to stress. There is an amino acid in tea, thats only found in tea that gets your body to produce dopamine and seratonin, the feel good chemicals. It also cuts down on stress hormones in the blood. People’s stress levels are an all time high, and they are able to tell a difference between tea and coffee. A lot of doctors are also recommending people get of coffee.
People are also nowadays more health conscious. Many do not have health insurance and they make every effort to keep themselves healthy so they do not use the medical system. Tea is a great source for that.
But tea also has caffeine. Is the caffeine different in any way? Or is the amount different?
A cup of coffee has 185 mg of caffeine, white tea has about 5 mg, green tea has anywhere between 10-30 mg depending on what kind it is, oolong teas have about 15-30 mg, and black teas have anywhere between 30 – 70 mg. So it’s still substantially less, plus the way your body processes caffeine from tea is different. It’s slower and time released. Coffee jolts your system.
Am I correct in saying that tea was primarily used for medicinal purposes?
Yes in Asia. It was a medicine way before it was a beverage. It is used to treat diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, to regulate blood pressure, liver enzymes and a myriad other conditions.
In Peru where I was born, we always drank hot tea. Where does the tradition of iced tea come from?
The tradition of iced-tea comes from the US. When I lived in New Zealand they had no clue what iced-tea was. You could not find it anywhere. When a friend came to visit, the brought her a cup of hot tea with an ice cube in it. They thought that was iced tea. The way we drink it here is buckets, it’s just a substitute for water.
Is there any health benefit differential between drinking hot or cold tea?
No. The biggest difference is how they brew it and what kind of tea they use. Most tea that is served in restaurants is conventionally grown tea which is sprayed with chemicals. So you are not going to get the same health benefits than from a whole leaf tea. If you brew organic whole leaf tea and serve it cold, it would have the same benefits as hot tea.
How important is it for consumers to look for organic tea varieties?
It’s the most important aspect of drinking tea because conventionally grown is sprayed with 20 times the amount of chemicals that would kill an animal. If it can kill and animal, it’s not wise for consumption. When you buy a fruit or vegetable, you can wash the chemicals off. When you wash tea, you are drinking it. Most countries that grow tea are third world countries that still use DDT. A lot of tumors are testing positive to DDT.
Any regions of the world we should watch out for when choosing organic teas?
I only buy organic teas that are certified by Japan or the US. In China, there is a ton of air pollution, so if you buy an organic tea that is grown near a city, it’s going to have heavy metals on it because of the location. I only buy Chinese teas that are high elevation and far away from cities. If you are drinking for health, Japanese green teas are much superior. There are some great green teas from China and I have awesome relationships with brokers who find us farms that are safe and certified. In Japan, they water sometimes with sea water which has a higher mineral content, it has a higher chlorophyl content. They also shade their high end teas the last three weeks prior to harvest.
What is the most popular type of tea, taking iced tea out of the equation?
Good question. We really monitor this. When people first come to our shop, they are used to drinking sweet iced tea they prefer the fruitier sweeter tasting teas. But as they stay here and really start getting into the teas, their taste starts changing and they will start choosing the plain teas. Most Americans are used to black teas like Liption and Tetley. Sometimes they come in after having read an article telling them that green tea is good for your health.
Oprah was big into nationalizing Oolong teas as she lost weight with it.
Absolutely. Because Oolongs help you metabolize fat. And she lost weight. If Oprah says it, everyone is going to do it. It also gets your body to produce T cells, which are your fighter cells. It also elevates your mood, so for people with depression, Oolongs are fabulous.
We have been talking about Oolongs, blacks, green teas. All these terms are very confusing for someone first starting to venture into tea? How is tea categorized?
All tea comes from the camellia family, the camellia sinensis plant. Whether is white, green, oolong or back tea, it does not mean it’s a different kind of tea. They take the same leafs, and process them differently. With white teas, they just air dry them. With green teas, they add heat to the leaves whether it is dry steaming them or dry wok rolling them. Oolongs are oxidized by shaking them so the oil comes out of the leaves. Black teas are fired under high temperatures. So something different comes out in each type of process. Drinking sun tea is discouraged. You have to have heat on those leaves to bring out the antioxidants.
What about roiboos tea? Is that also a different process or a different plant?
Roiboos teas are not real teas and come from the spalathus linearis plant. We call anything we put on hot water tea. They are from the pea family and only grow in South Africa. They are naturally caffeine free, have double the antioxidants than green tea, and they have vitamins and minerals tea does not have. They are very high in potassium and calcium, so South African women give it to their babies in baby bottles. They are very anti-inflamatory. Inflammation means pain like arthritis and joint pain. And you can drink them and go right to sleep.
Roiboos teas have awesome flavors like creme caramel, butterscotch and peach. Does roiboos blend well with sweeter flavors?
No. We just do these specifically for desert teas. And they taste great. The combine very well with the plain roiboos. Like anything, when you blend things, sometimes they will taste great, other times, they are terrible.
Talking about terrible, what is the strangest tea blend you have had?
The red pepper tea was rather different. We started to play with it and combined it with chocolate teas like the Mexican chocolates that have chilies in them. I’d say that was the most unusual.
Heavenly, light but with girth, black bean burgers are satisfyingly delicious and also get a nice healthy dose of fiber and protein. Relatively cheap and easy to make, it can be added to your repertoire of “OMG there is nothing to eat” meals.
I won these Food Should Taste Good chips from a give away over at 
![[3166] Spring in countryside](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53702864570_362d4640ef_s.jpg "[3166] Spring in countryside")
Healthy Foodie Co-Op 